A woman returns to the country she once fled. That premise lies at the heart of Perla, a new drama by director Alexandra Makarová that received its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and is set for its Czech premiere at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF). Inspired by the filmmaker’s family history, the film traces a quiet yet emotionally intense story of emigration, memory, and reconciliation.
Following its appearance in Rotterdam’s prestigious Tiger Competition, Perla has been selected for the Horizons section at KVIFF, a showcase of distinctive contemporary cinema. The film will be presented with a delegation including Makarová, lead actress Rebeka Poláková, and several key creatives. A wide release in Czech cinemas is scheduled for July 24.
A secret return to a divided homeland
Set in the early 1980s, Perla follows the journey of a Czechoslovak dissident and painter who once fled the oppressive regime and rebuilt her life in Vienna. Living as a single mother and supporting her daughter Julia, a gifted young pianist, Perla seems to have found stability. Her new relationship with an Austrian man offers hope of a future free from the trauma of her past.
But everything changes with a phone call from back home. Andrej, her former partner and the father of her child, has just been released from prison and reveals he is gravely ill. Against all reason, and risking everything, Perla decides to return—using false papers—to the country she escaped a decade earlier.
Her journey back to Czechoslovakia is not only geographical, but deeply personal, confronting memories, decisions, and unresolved ties. Slovak actress Poláková, known for roles in Černák, Anatomy of Betrayal, and the Marie Terezie television series, plays the title role with a deliberately elusive presence.
“I wanted someone who would be impossible to pin down,” Makarová said. “Rebeka has that rare quality—you never fully understand who she is, and that’s essential for a character like Perla.”
Though set against the backdrop of Czecholslovakia’s Cold War-era normalization, Makarová treats the political landscape as a context rather than a central theme. “The real conflict is emotional,” she explained. “This is a story about identity, agency, and the personal cost of freedom.”
Generational trauma and personal roots
Perla is deeply rooted in the filmmaker’s own family history. Alexandra Makarová was born in Košice in 1985 and moved to Vienna with her mother, a painter, after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Her artistic sensibility and interest in themes of displacement shaped earlier films Sola (2013) and Crush My Heart (2018), which earned critical acclaim for their psychological depth.
The inspiration for Perla, Makarová says, came not only from her own upbringing but also from the intergenerational trauma passed down through her family.
“My great-grandparents fled Russia after the 1917 revolution and settled in Czechoslovakia—they were the only ones in their families to survive,” she said. Her great-grandfather was later deported to Siberia and reunited with the family only after Stalin’s death. “Stories of escape, hunger, and persecution were always present in our lives,” she added. “Those fears never completely go away, no matter how irrational they may seem.”
Makarová dedicated the film to her grandmother, whose resilience and bold decisions inspired the character of Perla. “Her passion for life and determination to choose her own path were unforgettable,” she said. “This film is about the right to decide for oneself—even when that decision comes at a cost.”
Austrian-Slovak in production, Perla was developed with the support of several European film institutions, including the Austrian Film Institute, Vienna Film Fund, and the Slovak Audiovisual Fund. It was co-produced by Golden Girls Filmproduktion, Hailstone, and Ruth Beckermann Filmproduktion, with CinemArt handling distribution in Czechia and Slovakia.
Following its premiere in Karlovy Vary, Perla will enter domestic release from July 24.
